Nick Leventis Completes Shard Charity Abseil

NickLeventis successfully completed one of the longest civilian abseils in history, the StrakkaRacing driver was one of 40 people selected to abseil down The Shard, the tallest building in Europe.

Starting on the 87th floor of the central London skyscraper Leventis made his way down 250m of the outside of the building, raising money for CommandoSpiritAppeal, on behalf of the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.

“What an experience and one that I’m so honoured to have been a part of to help such a great cause,” said Leventis. “You can’t really put into words the feelings you get when you come out at the top, because the panoramic views of London are quite simply amazing and there’s no building that comes close.”

“The worst bit was definitely the first few seconds when you go over the edge; it’s a real heart stopping moment. During the long middle section of the descent, at half distance, you’re still not below the top of the Gherkin, which is quite a weird feeling!”

“There is no better way to see London and I loved every minute of it. I wish I could say I wasn’t scared, but at the top but I was – it really does give you a perspective of heights! To be able to see London from that birds-eye view was just phenomenal. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.”

“The main thing is that the abseil is for such a wonderful cause. We’ve done really well with our fund-raising and are currently just shy of twenty-five thousand pounds for the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, and that certainly gives you confidence all the way down that it’s for such a good cause.”

Only 40 people were chosen to make the descent, including Prince Andrew, who in his role as chairman of The Outward Bound Trust, was behind the exercise. Other abseilers included Sir Chris Bonington and Ffion Hague, the Prince’s deputy at the Outward Bound Trust and wife of the Foreign Secretary the William Hague MP.